Caroline Darian, the daughter of convicted rapist Dominique Pelicot, says her father “should die in prison” after his conviction for drugging and facilitating the rape of his wife by dozens of men. Pelicot, 72, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in December after a historic three-and-a-half-month trial in France.
The case, which shocked the nation, began in November 2020 when Darian’s mother, Gisèle Pelicot, discovered her husband had been drugging her for a decade to enable men he recruited online to assault her while she was unconscious.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Darian recounted the moment her mother called to share the horrifying revelation. “It was like an earthquake. A tsunami,” she said.
More than 50 men involved in the assaults were also sentenced to prison. Pelicot was apprehended after a separate incident of upskirting in a supermarket led investigators to uncover thousands of incriminating videos and images on his electronic devices.
The trial highlighted the under-reported crime of chemical submission, where victims are drugged and assaulted. Experts say many victims have no memory of the attacks, making evidence difficult to collect.
Darian, 46, has since dedicated her life to raising awareness about this form of assault, which she calls “invisible” due to its insidious nature. “The drugs used often come from a family’s medicine cabinet,” she explained.
In her book, *I’ll Never Call Him Dad Again*, Darian details the trauma endured by her family and the hidden dangers of drug-facilitated crimes.
The investigation revealed more devastating truths for Darian. Police showed her images suggesting she had also been drugged and assaulted by her father, although Pelicot denied the allegations and no conclusive evidence was found.
“I know he drugged me, probably for sexual abuse, but I don’t have proof,” Darian said. She lamented that many victims face similar struggles, often disbelieved or unsupported due to the lack of tangible evidence.
Darian described the burden of being both the daughter of a victim and the daughter of a predator. “When I look back, I don’t remember the father I thought he was. I see the criminal, the sexual predator,” she said.
Gisèle Pelicot has sought to recover from the trauma of the assaults and trial. “She is exhausted but recovering,” Darian said. Meanwhile, Darian finds strength in her family, including her husband, her brothers, and her 10-year-old son.
With years left before her father is eligible for parole, Darian is focused on moving forward and advocating for victims of chemical submission and sexual abuse. “The events made me who I am today,” she said.
